Seeds from Peppers

[hippy chick]

Lastnight I was watching Jamie Oliver anyway, on there a guy said that you can save the seeds directly from the squash and plant them to make the next crop. Well, I was wondering you see... last year I tried (unsuccessfully) to grow peppers... and the seeds were quite obviously those from a pepper (what a surprise). So... does anyone know if the next time I am making a salad, would it be possible to save the seeds from a pepper to plant and grow peppers? Has anyone tried it? Does it work? have I killed the seeds by keeping the peppers in the fridge? Too many questions, I know... any help appreciated though.

[Annpan]

Always worth a try I think some varieties have dud seeds in them but you probably won't know till you try them. if you lay them out on a damp piece of kitchen roll for a few days you should be able to see them sprouting - then you can plant the good ones.

[Odsox]

if you lay them out on a damp piece of kitchen roll for a few days you should be able to see them sprouting - then you can plant the good ones.

Yes ... very good tip, this is what I always do when I want to sow small(ish) quantities of large(ish) seed, in fact what I'm doing at the moment with Geranium seeds.
I usually put the damp kitchen roll in an old margarine container and put it in the airing cupboard, but check every day as the germinated fairly quick.
One other tip about Peppers, check where they were grown when you buy them in the shop. Varieties grown in hotter countries may not appreciate you trying to grow them in chilly old UK.
Other than that they should grow OK, and also other seeds as well like tomatoes and melons.

[Marc]

Commercial peppers (and other veg of course) will probably be grown from F1 hybrid seed so if they grow they may turn out nothing like the peppers that you bought. Can always try though, if you have space it might be interesting to see what you get.

[pureportugal]

Lastnight I was watching Jamie Oliver anyway, on there a guy said that you can save the seeds directly from the squash and plant them to make the next crop.

if he was talking about squash as in pumpkin/courgette/etc then you can plant the seed, and it should grow, but it's very unlikely to turn out anything like the one the seed came from.

some plants will and some won't, it's all to do with how they pollinate. peppers you can plant the seed and they should breed true. also beans and tomatoes (but for tomatoes you should ferment the seed before drying to save).

if you want to find out more about saving your own seed there are some really good books around, and plenty of info on the net. try the seeds of kokopelli, the seed savers handbook, or seed to seed.

if you really get into it in a big way, breed your own vegetable varieties is good.

EDIT to add link to the Seed Saving Institute website's beginners guide.

[chadspad]

I cant throw any type of seed or pip away and they have to go in a pot! I have successfully grown peppers and chillis in this way for many years all bearing fruit. Same too of tomatoes and cape gooseberrys. Mangoes, avocados, lemons, oranges, apples have all grown into trees but none are big enuf to know whether I will get fruit yet. But yes, definitely bung the pepper seeds in a pot and away you will go!

[juperwort]

Yes. Had one of those long red peppers last year. Dried seeds, then gave them a spell in the fridge & then planted. I have 10 plants on my windowledge at work. One plant is on its second crop. I get miniature versions, say, three inches long. Taste nice though.

[Mal]

Mildly related, plus I just wanted to say - my chilli pepper seeds on the window sill are coming up! They take so long, I was beginning to think it had gone wrong, but there they are. 3 out of 12 so far!

[MrDirtyBoots]

I haven't done it for bell peppers but it works very well for chilis. We just dry the chilis and then when we are ready we sow the seeds. Seems to work every time.

[theabsinthefairy]

I have managed to grow peppers from seeds from shop bought fruit without any problems - but I do double up the seeds just in case there are duds, and the plants do fruit, but not prolifically.

[hedgewitch]

I have grown (and am still growing) Peppers from the Seeds in a shop bought Pepper. They didn't grow very big but were deliciously sweet and tasty.

[JulieSherris]

I'd repeat the advice about checking to see where the original veg came from....

Planting shop bought garlic is also a tricky one - I think the current garlics are coming in from china at the minute, so might not do so great in our gardens - although as a companion plant they should still do the trick! I'm ready to plant my overgrown garlics up by the fruit trees as companions, then 'proper' garlics in the beds for the kitchen - yum!

And if you really want success in the seed saving hobby, try the real seed company - no hybrids there & always lots of friendly advice for saving seed for future years too.

[bodrighy]

We've grown peppers, melons, and (better than bought seed) butternut squashes from seed taken from fruit bought. IMHO the se dis free and though the yield may be a bit less, with the amount of seed in a fruit, just how much of any one ything can you eat or store?

Pete